Help for Alcoholics and Drug Addicts in Florida

Floridians: What Is This Drug Addiction, What is Alcoholism?

First of all, Alcoholism is so common in Florida because alcohol is just so darn easy to obtain. Start out drinking at an early age, and it's highly likely you'll get into other drugs, and quite possibly become an Addict. Has this already happened to you? Do you find yourself sobbing, "I NEED HELP." or asking, "Why can't I stop drinking / using?" 

Almost every store in Florida which sells food - also sells booze. No wonder so many people in the state are picked up for DUI, public disturbance, reckless endangerment, the list goes on...

photo credit: Globefill Inc.

According to the authors at WebMD.com, et al. "Drug addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences to the drug addict and those around them."

Drug addiction is classified as a brain disease because drug and alcohol abuse leads to changes in the structure and functionality of the brain. Although it is true for most people the initial decision to take drugs is completely voluntary, over time the changes in the brain caused by drug use and abuse can affect a person's self-control and ability to make good life decisions, and at the same time it can create an intense impulse to keep taking drugs.

It is because of all the changes in the brain that it is so challenging for one who is addicted to quit abusing drugs. Fortunately, there are treatments which can and will help people to counter addiction's powerful disruptive effects and regain lost control. Research shows that combining addiction treatment medications, when it is possible, with types of behavioral therapy commences the most empowering methods to ensure treatment and recovery success for most patients.

Treatment approaches which are tailored specifically to each patient's drug abuse usage patterns and any concurrent medical, psychiatric, and social problems can lead to sustained recovery and a life without alcohol and/or drugs. As with other chronic diseases, such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease, addiction can be managed quite effectively.Yet, it is quite common for an addict to relapse and begin using and abusing alcohol and drugs again. Relapse does not mean failure; but, it indicates that the treatment should be revisited and adjusted, or that different treatment will be needed to help the person back on the road to recovery. 

Understanding the Alcoholic or Addict isn't Simple

A common human conviction is that drug abusers ought to just have the capacity to quit taking medications at any given time that they are ready to change their own conduct and control the drive to drink or use drugs.

Numerous individuals don't comprehend why those with "addictive personalities" wind up dependent on drugs or how medications change the mind to prompt compulsive drug abuse. They wrongfully view medication misuse and habit as a social issue only, and may portray the individuals who take drugs as weak of willpower.

What the vast majority don't understand is the unpredictability of drug addiction habits (or alcoholism / alcohol addiction) - how it is an illness which affects the brain - and as a result of that, halting drug misuse is not just a question of resolution.

Through investigative scientific advances, we know significantly more now about how medications function in the brain, and we likewise realize that drug addiction can be effectively treated to help people stop abusing drugs and resume meaningful and productive lives. Transformations by the Gulf is in Florida, ready to help.

What Happens to Men vs. Women Who are Intoxicated
from Alcohol or Drugs?

Men often become excessively boisterous or violent under the influence of too much alcohol or drugs. The surge of dopamine (the brains happy, carefree 'drug') creates a feeling of invincibility and freedom that sober living just can't offer.

Women, on the contrary, often will become overly emotional and even sad before hitting the point of sloppy-no-return from drinking and using drugs. They too lose all inhibition, gain confidence, and often will let men take advantage of them, which they would not normally do sober.

Drugs & Alcohol and the Brain

 

Drugs are chemicals which creep into the brain's systems of communication and disrupt the way nerve cells originally send, receive and process information. There are at least two ways that drugs are able to do this: by overstimulating the "reward circuit" of the brain - and/or imitating the brain's natural chemical messengers.

Some drugs, such as weed (pot, dope etc...) and heroin (H. Horse, dope...), have a similar structure to chemical messengers, called neurotransmitters, which are naturally produced by the brain. Because of this similarity, these drugs are able to "trick" the brain's receptors and activate nerve cells to send altered messages.

Other drugs, such as cocaine (coke, crack, etc) or methamphetamine (meth, crank, speed, crystal meth, etc...), can cause the nerve cells to release abnormally large amounts of natural neurotransmitters, or prevent the normal synthesis and cycle of these brain chemicals, which is needed to shut off the signal between the neurons. This disruption produces a severely amplified message which disrupts normal brain patterns.
 

Nearly all drugs, directly or indirectly, target the reward center by overloading the brain with dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter present in regions of the brain that control movement, emotion, motivation, and pleasure perception. The over-stimulation of this system, which normally responds to natural behaviors which are linked to survival (eating, family time, etc), produces euphoric effects in response to the drugs. This reaction sets in motion a pattern that "teaches" people to repeat the drug abuse behavior. As a person continues the abuse of drugs, the brain adapts to the dopamine surges by producing less dopamine or reducing dopamine receptors. The user must therefore keep abusing drugs to bring his or her dopamine function back to ''normal'' or use more drugs to achieve a dopamine high.

Long-term drug and alcohol abuse causes changes in other brain chemical systems and circuits, as well. Brain imaging studies of drug-addicted individuals show changes in areas of the brain that are critical to judgment, decision-making, learning and memory, and behavior control. Together, these changes can drive an abuser to seek out and take drugs compulsively -- to become addicted to drugs.

Some People Become Addicted
to Alcohol and Drugs While Others Do Not

No one factor will predict whether or not a person will become addicted to alcohol or drugs. Addiction risk factors are influenced by a person's biological makeup, environment and stage of development. The more risk factors an individual has, the greater the chance that taking drugs can lead to addiction. For example:

• Biology. Genes that people are born with - in combination with environmental influences -- account for about half of their addiction vulnerability. Additionally, gender, ethnicity, and the presence of other mental disorders may influence risk for drug abuse and addiction.
• Environment. Environment includes many different influences - from family and friends to socioeconomic status and quality of life, in general. Factors such as peer pressure, physical and sexual abuse, stress, and parental involvement can greatly influence the course of drug abuse and addiction in a person's life.
• Development. Environmental factors interact with critical developmental stages in a person's life to affect addiction vulnerability, and adolescents experience a double challenge. Although taking drugs at any age can lead to addiction, the earlier that drug use begins, the more likely it is to progress to more serious abuse. And because adolescents' brains are still developing in the areas that govern decision making, judgment, and self-control, they are especially prone to risk-taking behaviors, including trying drugs.

Prevention Is the Most Successful Treatment of All

Alcoholism and drug addiction and dependence are preventable illnesses. Research has demonstrated that programs which include the family, schools, groups, and media are powerful in decreasing drug and alcohol abuse. Although it's known that social variables influence drug abuse and alcohol misuse patterns, when adolescents see drug addiction as unsafe, they tend to steer clear of drugs and alcohol. It is fundamental to help our youth and the overall population to understand the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse and for parents, teachers, and doctors to continue sending the message that drug abuse can be prevented if an individual never misuses drugs.